IBM and generic Beowulf clusters on Linux Intel boxes

Many organizations have assembled Intel (and other) processor-based servers into clusters of various types. Proprietary solutions such as Microsoft Wolfpack and HP/Compaq Alpha TruCluster compete for mind share with the generic Beowulf clusters on Linux Intel boxes. Beowulf, in fact, was the outgrowth of NASA researcher Donald Becker's solution to the problem of creating a supercomputing resource without having a supercomputing budget. It is the latter type of cluster that will be addressed in this paper.